There are more than one billion of recording cards in currency since the first card recorded with data appeared in 1920, and the recording cards are omnipresent in daily life. The categories of recording cards include ID cards for personal identification, cash cards for drawing cash, credit cards for purchase . . . etc. Beside the function aspect, the material, configuration, and recording/reading mechanism of those cards are different. For example, the recording card can be recorded with bossed letter, bar code, information stored in IC (IC card) or optical storage (optical card). Moreover, the security and degree of convenience of the card also depends on the material used and the recording/reading mechanism.
More particularly, the IC cards are provided with an IC chip for recording data (ISO 7816) and the terminal thereof is in static connection with a suitable connector. The applications of such IC cards include cash card, ID card . . . etc. The magnetic card is provided with a magnetic strip on one side thereof (ISO 7811) and the data stored in the magnetic strip is accessed by a dynamic magnetic head. The magnetic card can be accessed by part of the ATM machine. Another kind of magnetic card an all magnetic card, has a thinner structure and the data thereof can be recorded everywhere on the card. The all magnetic card can be, for example, a copy card, and has no particular specification. Besides, the transmission method of the card reader includes automatic type and a manual type. The automatic card reader has card transmission means for feeding or ejecting the card.
The transmission device of the conventional card reader includes a gear-transmission type and a belt-transmission type. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the conventional gear-type transmission device comprises a motor (DC motor) 10a, a driving pulley 11a, a transmission pulley 12a and a driven pulley 13a. The motor 10a sends transmission power to the transmission pulley 12a through the deceleration of the driving pulley 11a. The driven pulley 13a is arranged below the transmission pulley 12a to clamp and move the card 14a. To minimize the constitutional parts of the device, the device employs single pulley arrangement.
As shown in FIG. 3, the conventional belt-type transmission device comprises a motor 15a, belt pulley set 16a, 17a, transmission pulley 18a, and driven pulley 19a. The motor 15a is decelerated by the driving pulley (not shown) and moves the belt-pulley set 17a and transmission pulley 18a through the belt-pulley set 16a, thus enabling the transmission pulley 18a and the driven pulley 19a to clamp and move the card 20a. The transmission device can move the whole card because the belt has a long-distance conveying ability.
The above-mentioned card transmission devices can convey a card in a steady, manner however, there are still some problem. The pulley-type card transmission device is only applicable to an all-magnetic card (thin card), and is not applicable to ISO 7811 magnetic cards. The belt-type card transmission device has a broader applicability, i.e., it can be used with ISO 7811 magnetic cards, and ISO 7816 IC cards. However, the conventional belt-type card transmission device has a bulky size and can not be applicable to all-magnetic cards (thinner card) because the thin card is liable to deform by the height difference among the transmission pulleys 18a. Moreover, the lifetime of the belt is limited.